100 Greatest Phillies: 100 – Randy Lerch

Lerch lived up to his name, with a thread-thin 6’5”, 190 pound frame. Picked in the eighth round in the 1973 draft, Lerch made his big-league debut on Sept. 14, 1975, giving up five runs in an inning during a blowout win against the Cubs at Wrigley Field. His best season was 1979 — despite a losing record of 10-13, he recorded a stellar 3.74 ERA. But his most memorable moment? Probably hitting two home runs in the division clinching victory over the Pirates — his two shots proved to be the difference. He also knocked a homer in that wild 23-22 win in Wrigley in 1979. His .206 lifetime average remains a pretty stellar mark for pitchers.

Comment: At No. 100, Lerch gets in because he survived a couple poor years and played a supporting role during the Phils’ dynasty years. His numbers scream average — even a little under that, but he remains a memorable name in Phils’ lore.

Hey Phillie Phans:
A common enemy of the Phils and Mets is getting screwed over by one of their own beloved. I’m talking about the Braves and Furcal. BWAHAHAH this is great. Yes I am a Mets fan, and NO as I stated before I DO NOT hates the Phillies( I never hated them). But, I HATE THE BRAVES. Yes this is priceless. The Braves are irrelevant. HAHHAHHAHHA!!! BRAVES S_UCK A_SSS!!!!

I was at the game where Lerch hit two homers. A memorable event, but I also remember he gave up four runs in the first inning to put himself in that hole. If he belongs on this list it may be as a great example of one of those many Phils who always seem like they should be better than they are.

I remember Randy pitching while I was growing up. Randy was a lot better pitcher than his record would indicate, mainly because the Phils’ offense would seem to disappear when he was on the mound. He teneded to keep the Phils in most of his starts. Because of that, everytime a starter for the Phils had a good start, but got no support from the offense, I would say that the Phillies offense has once again Lerched the starter. I would look to see which of the starters were being Lerched by the offense during the entire season. That’s so much fun to do.

I guess you would consider Lerch an overachiever… an 8th round pick cracking the franchise top 100 list. Pat nailed it… we can’t even find an above average player for our top 100 list and we have been around for 125 years! I’m sorry to hear that things didn’t work out better for him.

I was at Jack Russell Stadium one day with my younger brother (who was probably 13 at the time). It was early in the morning, and Lerch had finished a warmup session. There was no one else around, and my brother asked for his autograph. Lerch brushed him off, with the attitude that he had a Cy Young award to prepare for.

I hope my crush of all crushes is on this list somewhere- the handsome, cooler than cool- “Gentleman Jim Lonborg”. The former Cy Young winner is now a dentist in the Boston area, I believe, but talk about your class acts.

I did embarrass myself at the Vet one time though involving Jim- I went to the bullpen to watch him before the game, and he looked up and smiled at me and waved. I was so excited, I turned around and proceeded to fall up the steps, every one laughed, just hope Jim didn’t see it!

The 1976-1978 Phillies were a dynasty of the national league east. They werent exactly the atlanta braves, though they did the same thing in the playoffs each year, lose.

you have to remember in the seventies there werent as many teams, and free agency was still a new thing, so there was not asmuch parity as it is today. Winning an average o f 100 games each year, that was the first, and only, phillies dynasty;

You might as well have picked Terry Harmon, Tommy Hutton or Mike Rodginski (sp?). Lerch?!? He was a horrible pitcher. His 4.45 era was compiled during the days when pitchers still reigned supreme for the most part.

As stated in the post, Lerch’s best year was a losing season? This team has been around for over 120 years. There is absolutely no reason why Randy Lerch would crack the top 1000 much less 100.

Not sure how Randy Lerch makes the Top 100. Posted a losing record on good Phillies teams. And the high ERA is with defensive stalwarts like Gary Maddox, Manny Trillo, Larry Bowa and Mike Schmidt. If you want impact on a penant race as a criteria, why not Bob Walk, J.A. Happ, Marty Bystrom or Cliff Lee? Or compare his 36-42 record to Gene Garber’s 33-22 record over 5 years with 51 saves. Lerch does not belong on the list.